Austin Reaves Has Been Great In FIBA ... Could He Be An All-Star?

[Pelly24]

He's coming off a breakout regular season, a solid playoff run and now he's clearly been one of the best players on Team USA. He has a quick release, can shoot, good first step, great brakes, good body control and really good size. Does the little things, does the big things.

Is there a world where he averages 20/5/5 this year? And if so, does that mean he can be an all-star level guy? Even if he *doesn't* actually make the team because the league is too loaded with guards? If so, that could drastically impact the Lakers ceiling. I think LeBron was fairly hobbled in the playoffs, but if healthy, I'm confident taking him over most guys, as he was still an All-NBA guy during the postseason this year. AD was very impressive too, and he's still top 10. If Reaves can be a top 30ish guy, that moves everyone down into even more comfortable roles. D. Lo's inconsistency is no longer much of a problem as he's probably a really good fourth option for a championship team. Then there's still Rui and Gave Vincent. Either way, Reaves should have a bunch of confidence coming into the season, and his abilities give the lakers a super high ceiling.

[monopoman]

There are a lot of great guards in the West, if he was a Forward he would have a better chance in general. It feels like every year at least a few good guards in the West have a great year and still don't get the all-star nod.

The Lakers also have two players that probably make the all-star team no matter what and a 3rd would only make sense typically if that team was winning a lot of games. You almost never see a 3rd all-star selection for a team unless they are dominant in the wins column or they have 3 superstars.

[zimpy27]

Would be extremely impressive to become an all star in the loaded West. Too many great guards.

But yeah if he gets 20 5 5 and the team is rolling then I could definitely see it. Just don't think those numbers are going to happen unless a DLo trade happens and they give a Reaves a ton of onball usage.

[Phreak50]

So the 2 (yes amazing, two whole games) he has played in the tournament mean that much?

Why not Schroeder and Hollis-Jefferson and co?

The box score vs Greece flattered him. Did you actually watch it?

He was out of control, turned the ball over, tried to turn regular passes into cringey no lookers and got phantom foul trips to the line.

He is trying way too hard to fit in and the real stars around him don’t seem to enjoy it from what body language suggests.

[UcanUwill]

His handle is way better than I thought. He does look like alll star candidate easily, smart, can create at will, impressive finishing moves

[BernteB]

So the 2 (yes amazing, two whole games) he has played in the tournament mean that much?

Why not Schroeder and Hollis-Jefferson and co?

The box score vs Greece flattered him. Did you actually watch it?

He was out of control, turned the ball over, tried to turn regular passes into cringey no lookers and got phantom foul trips to the line.

He is trying way too hard to fit in and the real stars around him don’t seem to enjoy it from what body language suggests.

i watched the game and nothing you claim is anywhere close to what i saw.

[facothomas22]

The hype that Reaves is getting is out of control. Is the guy is even the best guard on his own team? I mean D'Aenglo Russell was unplayable in the Western Conference finals vs the Nuggets, but he was a 17-5 guy in the regular season and has been more or less that for most of his career. I don't see Reaves ever becoming a 17-5 guy. Both are bad on defense, so Reaves doesn't even close gap between him and Russell based on his defense. I think both are average playmakers. Also putting inflated numbers in FIBA doesn't mean all star potential. Otherwise, Mo Wagner, Dennis Schroader, Bobby Portis, along with others would've developed into a all cailber star already. The dude is role player and a average to below average one at that. I easily take guys like Derrick White and Bruce Brown over him becasue atleast they can do multiple things on a very good level.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Steph, Ja, Booker, SGA, Ant, Fox, Dame, Kyrie, Luka.

No, I don’t think so.

[hauntedcomputer]

I can definitely see him getting voted in. He has all the qualifications for a fan vote. A little more marketing and another Taylor Swift rumor and he's locked.

[zimpy27]

So the 2 (yes amazing, two whole games) he has played in the tournament mean that much?

Why not Schroeder and Hollis-Jefferson and co?

The box score vs Greece flattered him. Did you actually watch it?

He was out of control, turned the ball over, tried to turn regular passes into cringey no lookers and got phantom foul trips to the line.

He is trying way too hard to fit in and the real stars around him don’t seem to enjoy it from what body language suggests.

It's that Reaves is outplaying his much lauded teammates, not that he's outplaying opponents.

You're missing the point if you can't wrap your head around that.

[Memories]

The only issue of becoming an all star is that there are SO MANY great guards in the West. If it were the East? Yeah easy money.

Reaves is clearly an all star talent, and it's not even close at this point. Anybody that says otherwise are either trolls or let's their hatred of the Lakers cloud their judgement. Which I guess could go hand and hand with trolling.

[UcanUwill]

The hype that Reaves is getting is out of control. Is the guy is even the best guard on his own team? I mean D'Aenglo Russell was unplayable in the Western Conference finals vs the Nuggets, but he was a 17-5 guy in the regular season and has been more or less that for most of his career. I don't see Reaves ever becoming a 17-5 guy. Both are bad on defense, so Reaves doesn't even close gap between him and Russell based on his defense. I think both are average playmakers. Also putting inflated numbers in FIBA doesn't mean all star potential. Otherwise, Mo Wagner, Dennis Schroader, Bobby Portis, along with others would've developed into a all cailber star already. The dude is role player and a average to below average one at that. I easily take guys like Derrick White and Bruce Brown over him becasue atleast they can do multiple things on a very good level.

Lol he's much better than Russell. And if you don't see the difference between putting numbers on team USA and putting numbers on every other NT, I don't know why we even talking. Just watch him play, he is good, it's neither Lakers or big white hope hype, kid looks great.

[Big_Aristotle]

So the 2 (yes amazing, two whole games) he has played in the tournament mean that much?

Why not Schroeder and Hollis-Jefferson and co?

The box score vs Greece flattered him. Did you actually watch it?

He was out of control, turned the ball over, tried to turn regular passes into cringey no lookers and got phantom foul trips to the line.

He is trying way too hard to fit in and the real stars around him don’t seem to enjoy it from what body language suggests.

I watched the whole game and your comment makes no sense. He had like 1-2 unforced turnovers which is not unusual for young players, but other than that he played exceptionally well. Every time Reaves enters the floor, the US make a run.

[Pelly24]

The hype that Reaves is getting is out of control. Is the guy is even the best guard on his own team? I mean D'Aenglo Russell was unplayable in the Western Conference finals vs the Nuggets, but he was a 17-5 guy in the regular season and has been more or less that for most of his career. I don't see Reaves ever becoming a 17-5 guy. Both are bad on defense, so Reaves doesn't even close gap between him and Russell based on his defense. I think both are average playmakers. Also putting inflated numbers in FIBA doesn't mean all star potential. Otherwise, Mo Wagner, Dennis Schroader, Bobby Portis, along with others would've developed into a all cailber star already. The dude is role player and a average to below average one at that. I easily take guys like Derrick White and Bruce Brown over him becasue atleast they can do multiple things on a very good level.

It feels very likely that Reaves will end up a better player than D'Angelo Russell if he isn't already. He's much more athletic with his burst and body control and strength, so his free throw rate is elite. His TS% last year was a *staggering* 69% while averaging 13 points per game. In the playoffs it stayed at 62 TS%. So it's likely that he can get *at least* 17/5/5 on league average TS% (58 TS%), and considering that LeBron and AD will still be getting the most shots, that's possibly downplaying his potential efficiency. D. Lo's lack of athleticism has always damned him as a player, and this playoff run only reaffirmed that.

Reaves is also a decent enough defender.

And to reiterate, I'm not speaking as much about Reaves literally making the all-star team. I'm asking if he can be *that* level of player.

[dockingsched]

Can’t wait til he gets voted a starter by the fans, which counts for half the vote. We’ll see how the media and players vote with the other 50%.

[cam24thomas]

Imagine if you replaced Klay Thompson with Austin Reaves, GS would be the best in the West probably, or 2nd best to Denver.

[dockingsched]

The hype that Reaves is getting is out of control. Is the guy is even the best guard on his own team? I mean D'Aenglo Russell was unplayable in the Western Conference finals vs the Nuggets, but he was a 17-5 guy in the regular season and has been more or less that for most of his career. I don't see Reaves ever becoming a 17-5 guy. Both are bad on defense, so Reaves doesn't even close gap between him and Russell based on his defense. I think both are average playmakers. Also putting inflated numbers in FIBA doesn't mean all star potential. Otherwise, Mo Wagner, Dennis Schroader, Bobby Portis, along with others would've developed into a all cailber star already. The dude is role player and a average to below average one at that. I easily take guys like Derrick White and Bruce Brown over him becasue atleast they can do multiple things on a very good level.

Reaves put up 20/5.4 and 17.4/5.7 in the two months after the deadline when they got rid of Westbrook in just 30 mpg, but you don’t see him EVER being 17/5? That makes absolutely no sense lol.

And to compare him to DLo on defense, I seriously doubt you ever even watched Reaves play.

[dan-man]

He's coming off a breakout regular season, a solid playoff run and now he's clearly been one of the best players on Team USA. He has a quick release, can shoot, good first step, great brakes, good body control and really good size. Does the little things, does the big things.

Is there a world where he averages 20/5/5 this year? And if so, does that mean he can be an all-star level guy? Even if he *doesn't* actually make the team because the league is too loaded with guards? If so, that could drastically impact the Lakers ceiling. I think LeBron was fairly hobbled in the playoffs, but if healthy, I'm confident taking him over most guys, as he was still an All-NBA guy during the postseason this year. AD was very impressive, too, and he's still top 10. If Reaves can be a top-30ish guy, that moves everyone down into even more comfortable roles. D. Lo's inconsistency is no longer much of a problem as he's probably a really good fourth option for a championship team. Then there's still Rui and Gave Vincent. Either way, Reaves should have a bunch of confidence coming into the season, and his abilities give the Lakers a super high ceiling.

100%. As a Laker fan, this is one of the most pleasant surprises we've experienced in quite a while, and like you described, he makes the team and everyone else better because they can revert to a more comfortable and efficient role. The pace of his progression last season was mind-blowing. I watched it happen game by game over the final stretch of the regular season while LBJ was out. And to see him mesh so well with LBJ upon his return was impressive. And then you had the big boy test in the playoffs, which he passed with flying colors. Definitely a star in the making...

[Ckay]

He won't.

[GrindCityHustle]

He won't.

Lol

Are you sure he ain't the next Duka Loncic?